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On Concealment and Discovery

Proverbs 25:2 has always resonated with me in my academic pursuits: “It is God’s privilege to conceal things and the king’s privilege to discover them.”

Romans 11:34,36 (NLT) expands this marvelously: “For who can know what the Lord is thinking? […] For everything comes from Him; everything exist by His power and is intended for His glory.”

The Greek text of Isaiah 40:13, propounds, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts?” and is echoed in 1 Corinthians 2:16: “For, ‘Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?’ But we understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ.”

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On Belief and Justice

On my first day of law school, my professor says two things. ‘From this day forward, when your mother tells you she loves you, get a second opinion.’ ‘If you want justice, go to a whorehouse; if you want to get fucked, go to court.’ —‍Richard Gere as Martin Vail in Primal Fear

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On Losing

Losing doesn’t make me want to quit. It makes me want to fight that much harder. —‍Paul “Bear” Bryant

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Iron Chariots

What are the iron chariot in our lives? To what extent do we deny ourselves our birthright?

In Judges 17:16 we read that the descendants of Joseph were too numerous to reside only in the hill country “but all the Canaanites in the lowlands have iron chariots.”

But Joshua responded “Clear as much of the land as you wish, and take possession of the farthest corners. And you will drive out the Canaanites from the valleys, too, even though they are strong and have iron chariots.”

Our iron chariots aren’t obstacles; they are the objective such that when we are strong enough to defeat the chariot we will be strong enough to exercise dominion in the promised land.

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George Zimmerman Trial

George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin BOTH used bad judgment, but why is it that only Zimmerman’s judgment is scrutinized? The “girlfriend” testified that Martin was the one who initiated verbal contact. Recently someone tried to tell me that Martin was within his First Amendment rights to say whatever he wanted to. But by that same logic, Zimmerman was within his First Amendment rights to assemble where he wished. But it was Martin who created the confrontation between them. And Martin could have chosen to explain that he was visiting a resident and that would have diffused the situation. Let’s not forget about Trayvon Martin’s poor judgment.

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On Moral Duty

The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. —‍Edmund Burke

Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little. —‍Edmund Burke

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Lewis v. New Orleans, 415 U.S. 130 (1974)

Back in the 1970s, Louisiana had a statute making it “unlawful and a breach of the peace for any person wantonly to curse or revile or to use obscene or opprobrious language toward or with reference to any member of the city police while in the actual performance of his duty.” After much procedural harangue that included affirmation by the Louisiana Supreme Court, the United States Supreme Court held that such statute “is not susceptible of application to speech, although vulgar or offensive, that is protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15, 18-22 (1971); Terminiello v. Chicago, 337 U.S. 1, 4-5 (1949); Gooding v. Wilson, supra, at 520. Since [the law], as construed by the Louisiana Supreme Court, is susceptible of application to protected speech, the section is constitutionally overbroad and therefore is facially invalid.” Read the full opinion on Google Scholar.

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Romans 8:28

This morning I was listening to WAY-FM while showering and their verse of the day was Romans 8:28: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

This verse is so often quoted as a platitude, but is that really the correct syntax?

I know that Greek and Hebrew scholars toil thoroughly at deriving the right balance of literal and conceptual meaning, but maybe they too are swayed by their desire to polish a bit. Although considerably less rosy, maybe a more realistic syntax is “And to those who are called, we accordingly know that God causes all all things to work together for the good of His purpose.”

Realistically speaking, isn’t it a bit egotistical to think that our benefit is somehow more significant than God’s master plan?

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On Rising Again

I just came across an old note to remind me: “Do not gloat over me, my enemies! For though I fall, I will rise again.” Micah 7:8

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Adams v. US ex rel. McCann

There is a very interesting quote in Adams v. US ex rel. McCann, 317 U.S. 269 (1942) that “What were contrived as protections for the accused should not be turned into fetters. [. . .] To deny an accused a choice of procedure in circumstances in which he, though a layman, is as capable as any lawyer of making an intelligent choice, is to impair the worth of great Constitutional safeguards by treating them as empty verbalisms.” (Id., at 280). The odd thing is that Adams is like a snake eating its tail. It’s not very useful in and of itself, but the phrasing is righteously potent.

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Police Turning to UK to Learn De-Escalation

Scottish police officers simulated a riot at the Jackton training center in Glasgow, Scotland, where police leaders from throughout the United States gathered to discuss department tactics.
“A difference long curious to Americans stands out: Most British police officers are unarmed, a distinction particularly pronounced here in Scotland, where 98 percent of the country’s officers do not carry guns. For them, calming a situation through talk, rather than escalating it with weapons, is an essential policing tool, and one that brought a delegation of top American police officials to this town 30 miles northeast of Glasgow.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/12/nyregion/us-police-leaders-visiting-scotland-get-lessons-on-avoiding-deadly-force.html

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Nuclear Holocaust in Zechariah 14:12 ?

“And the LORD will send a plague on all the nations that fought against Jerusalem. Their people will become like walking corpses, their flesh rotting away. Their eyes will shrivel in their sockets, and their tongues will decay in their mouths.”

Compare this to John Hersey’s accounts in Hiroshima.

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On Discovering Truth

[T]ruth is best discovered by powerful statements on both sides of the question. —‍Francis Bacon (1561-1626)

N.B. Though often attributed to Lord John Scott Eldon (1751-1838), Eldon was, in fact, quoting Bacon.

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Don’t Intensify Answers

Just say a simple, “Yes, I will,” or “No, I won’t.” Your word is enough. To strengthen your promise with a vow shows that something is wrong. Matthew 5:37 NLT

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Jacob’s Unworthiness

Jacob’s words are still true and humbling even today: “I am not worthy of all the faithfulness and unfailing love you have shown to me, your servant.” (GEN 32:10 NLT)

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Anguish Deafness

And Moses speaketh so unto the sons of Israel, and they hearkened not unto Moses, for anguish of spirit, and for harsh service. Exodus 6:9 (YLT)

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The Gods of Other Nations

“Do not worship the gods of these other nations or serve them in any way, and never follow their evil example.” (EX 23:24 NLT) How many ways do we, the modern followers of the one true God, serve the gods of the lands in which we dwell? Hollywood? Wealth? Fame?

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Constitutional Amendment

Back in May 2016 in the wake of citizen killings by cops and the black lives matter movement, I had the idea to think up a new Constitutional amendment:

No executive agent of a State or of the United States acting under color of domestic law shall purposefully, capriciously, wantonly, negligently, or indifferently perpetrate or permit an abrogation of due process or substantial miscarriage of justice upon any person during a time and place of peace, natural calm, and civil order, and any executive agent who conscientiously refuses an order which would violate such protection shall be equally protected.

My idea was to reflect and protect civil rights. It could potentially open the door for 28 USC 2254 habeas relief on a freestanding actual innocence claim. And while conceived as miscarriage of criminal law, it remains open to allow federal courts to decide what other substantial miscarriages might exist such as employment, welfare, healthcare, or voting rights. It opens the door for international application as well on matters like extraordinary rendition.

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Habeas Corpus and Actual Innocence

I am convinced that the U.S. Supreme Court decision in McQuiggin v. Perkins, 569 U.S. ___ (2013), was really about re-aligning the checks-and-balances and restoring federal courts’ authority to take corrective measures. While the decision was technically adverse to the underlying habeas corpus petition, it was overwhelmingly (and controversially) restorative to habeas corpus practice, and I think the Supreme Court chose to hear the case simply to renew its prior holdings in House v. Bell, 513 U.S. 298 (2006), and Schlup v. Delo, 513 U.S. 298  (1995), rather than to address the actual issue of Perkins’ liberty.

Writs of habeas corpus are traceable at least as far back as the Magna Carta of 1215. Basically, it’s a desperate cry to a higher authority to investigate a person’s unjust confinement. Most landmark precedents emerge from federal habeas corpus proceedings—Gideon v. Wainwright and Mirando v. Arizona are two such über-cases that every American student hears in high school. I’ve been digging around and want to take a moment to disseminate information on one particular aspect that exists in United States federal courts called Actual Innocence.Show more ›

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Afghanistan

Afghanistan will exploit natural resources to become a world influence. It has enormous undiscovered mineral wealth.

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On Striving for Gender Neutrality

I once experienced a freak Saharan heatwave with highs over 40° C while studying in Madrid. It was a dry heat, though, and very different from one recent 103° F July afternoon in south Georgia. I bounced to a thrift store in search of some well-worn (breathable) medical scrubs and that’s when I saw it: the plain, charred olive A-line mini. It struck me as the ultimate heatbuster and looked so sensible and professional that it triggered a brief flashback to my days in the corporate offices of a large regional bank and I wondered, as progressive as the bank was, if I would have been permitted to elect its female dress code. On second thought, I have no desire to cross-dress, but shouldn’t gender equality give men the option to wear skirts just as it gave women the option to wear pants many decades ago? As counterintuitive as it might be, I suspect the bank would have been much more cerebral than most universities in contemplating such questions. This being a summer break, I decided to test the waters and having donned various skirts for three weeks now, I reflect upon deeply disconcerting truths.Show more ›

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Luke’s gospel and the question of “Who do people say I am?”

Today I was struck by Luke’s juxtaposition of this question. I never before realized that Luke provided parallel explorations of the question. Consider first Luke 9:7-9 (NLT):

When Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, heard about everything Jesus was doing, he was puzzled. Some were saying that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead. Others thought Jesus was Elijah or one of the other prophets risen from the dead. “I beheaded John,” Herod said, “so who is this man about whom I hear such stories?” And he kept trying to see him.

While it is odd that Herod would come to bare upon the narrative, it is not unreasonable since Jesus had just healed the roman officer’s servant in Luke 7. But the real reason seems to be to contrast Herod’s wisdom as a ruler with the wisdom of his disciples. There is an apparent chronological gap (“one day…”) before reaching Luke 9:18-22 but the symmetry is clear:

One day Jesus left the crowds to pray alone. Only his disciples were with him, and he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”  “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other ancient prophets risen from the dead.”  Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Peter replied, “You are the Messiah sent from God!”  Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone who he was. “The Son of Man[e] must suffer many terrible things,” he said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.”

Read the whole chapter of Luke 9 (NLT).

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Why I Wear Skirts

muscular man in navy polo and brown skirt

Why I wear skirts has everything to do with equality. It started one roastingly hot July day in 2016 and I haven’t looked back since. Sure, I see the curiosity in others’ eyes and on their faces, but it surprises me how few people are direct enough to ask about it. This is, after all, the deep south far from international megatropolises like Miami, Los Angeles, and New York where cultural anomalies might be more commonplace. Perhaps southerners just want to avoid the appearance of rudeness. Even so, a few days ago a local librarian lamented that I had not blogged my experience and this led me to think that just maybe the public at large might be interested in my personal reasons and my social message.Show more ›

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Houston v. Hill, 482 U.S. 451 (1987)

Houston v. Hill is a remarkable U.S. Supreme Court case that tackles abuses of power by police departments. The Supreme Court decided 7-2 that a Houston, Texas ordinance that was routinely used to arrest citizens for merely “arguing, talking, interfering, failing to remain quiet, refusing to remain silent, verbal abuse, cursing, verbally yelling, and talking loudly” toward a police officer.

Not only did the Supreme Court rule this type of conduct to be protected First Amendment speech, but the Supreme Court also expressed that the right to question police conduct is a fundamental distinction between democracy and dictatorship.Show more ›

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Cohen v. California, 403 U.S. 15 (1971)

During the Vietnam conflict/war, Paul Robert Cohen wore a (leather?) jacket bearing the words “Fuck the Draft” into the Los Angeles Municipal Court building. Upon entering an actual courtroom, however, he removed and folded his jacket over his arm. He again donned the jacket upon leaving the courtroom and a city officer thereupon arrested and charged him with violating California Penal Code § 415 which prohibited “maliciously and willfully disturb[ing] the peace or quiet of any neighborhood or person . . . by . . . offensive conduct. . . .” Show more ›

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Gender Equality in the Shadow of 1960s Civil Rights

The outside temperature reached 103° F one recent July afternoon in south Georgia. I once experienced even hotter temperatures in Spain a decade ago, but the gulf humidity here is a beast of a different kind. I bounced to a thrift store in search of extensively used (i.e. breathable) medical scrubs. Little did I know that this simple mission would ignite a profound inquiry into gender equality.Show more ›

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A timely reminder

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The End of Net Neutrality Won’t Be An Apocalypse

Net neutrality is a good thing, but its demise won’t be the apocalyptic threshold that many “Chicken Littles” prognosticate. There are just too many money-grubbing attorneys chomping at the bit for a juicy class-action suit. Then too, there is also the US Department of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Consumer Protections Bureau on deck to intervene if the existing laws and court rulings are violated.

Around 100 years ago, the Mann-Elkins Act of 1910 legislatively declared telecommunication networks to be common carriers subject to Congress’ authority to regulate interstate commerce. In 1974, MCI sued AT&T in federal court for violating Mann-Elkins after Illinois Bell (at the time a wholly-owned subsidiary of AT&T) severed all of MCI’s network interconnections. MCI won a $1.8 billion judgement (which was upheld, though reduced, in 1983 by the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals). But ever since the 1970s, telecommunication providers cannot (lawfully) deny network access to a party that is willing and able to pay for the service nor can telecommunication providers charge dissimilar access rates to competitors. In fact, MCI’s initial 1974 victory over AT&T was the very thing that led to the federal government’s antitrust action that resulted in AT&T’s unprecedented breakup.Show more ›

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On Clear Communication

I guess I should warn you, if I turn out to be particularly clear, you’ve probably misunderstood what I’ve said. —‍Alan Greenspan

I know you think you understand what you thought I said but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant. —‍Alan Greenspan

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A Quick Note on Sex & Gender

Sex and gender are not the same things. Biological sex is defined by anatomy and genetics. Gender, however, refers to the manifestation of physiological sex. People with congruent biological sex and manifested gender are termed cisgender. A person whose biological sex and manifested gender are not congruent may be (over broadly) termed transgender, but that does not necessarily mean that a transgender person intends to undergo medical sex reassignment or live as a different sex. More appropriately being “trans” simply means that the person transcends binary gender much in the way that the periodic table contains transitional elements (D-block). The transmetals can have simultaneous metal characteristics and nonmetal characteristics and also alternating metal characteristics and nonmetal characteristics. To continue this analogy, transgender persons have external characteristics of one sex and internal characteristics of the other sex. Genderfluid persons have alternating internal characteristics and constant external characteristics.

Gender does influence sexuality but gender is not determinative of sexuality. In actuality, there are three components at work: Gender Identity, Gender Expression, and Sexual Orientation.Show more ›

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Famous People I Want to Meet

I would love to meet President Clinton whom along with President Reagan and Margaret Thatcher I have long regarded as the best post-WWII world leaders.

I would love to meet Richard Gere whose method acting has made him my man-crush for at least a decade.

I would love to meet Rod Stewart because of his clear passion to entertain others and the joy he finds in bringing joy to others.

I would love to meet Phil Collins because of his astounding talents and his ability to (re)invent himsel, his life, and his career.

I would love to meet Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Boreanaz because they were so perfect for their character roles. I also want to meet Charisma Carpenter because she was just super hot!

I would love to meet Madonna to better understand her life and professional evolution.

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Happy Holidays, Mr. President

President Trump is making an issue of saying “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays.”

So here’s the thing: when I was an adolescent, I too made an issue of saying “Merry Christmas” and that begs a comparison to President Trump’s petulant soapbox (i.e. is he playing a political angle or just acting immaturely?).Show more ›

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Human Life is Sacred: What the death penalty, abortion, birth control, and 9/11 can teach us about the intersection of homicide and suicide

Intersection

For a couple of years now I have come to believe that the death penalty should not be enforced. By this, I am not saying that the death penalty should not exist or that the death penalty should be abolished. On the contrary, there are acts that are so heinous that justice demands a sentence of death! However, once pronounced, humanity must step in and commute death to life imprisonment…unless the offender consents.Show more ›

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When Right ≠ Legal

There have been times throughout American history where what is right is not the same as what is legal. Sometimes to do the right thing you have to break a law. —‍Edward Snowden

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Is Sexual Orientation a Choice?

So I was just pondering the statement that “straight” people don’t choose to be straight. Of course, the über-religious will say that’s because it’s the natural order of things…the way we’re created. But if someone is physiochemically wired a certain way, doesn’t that imply that God either makes mistakes or that God is a watchmaker rather than a timepiece? To avoid that theological quagmire, they equate homosexuality with sin and since sin necessarily depends on choice, sexual orientation must therefore be a choice as well. It seems to me that the blindly religious are spending way more energy trying to avoid the theological heavy lifting than it would take to just sit patiently and meditatively for understanding to come. Theophilosophy shouldn’t weaken one’s faith; it should strengthen and deepen it. As an axiom, a sovereign deity cannot err and all people must have the same free will. So shouldn’t it be the case that if heteros don’t choose to be hetero, homos don’t choose to be homo?

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A Guy’s Guide to Getting Skirted (because skirts are for men too)

Meme picture of chino skirt: "Think comfort. Just be man enough"Words do not adequately describe a skirted man’s enhanced comfort in the sweltering summer months. While comfort is an enormous justification for donning a work-appropriate skirt, comfort is neither the sole benefit nor the sole justification, as I have pointed out in “Why I Wear Skirts” and other posts about men and skirts. Skirts need not be frilly, froufrou, or feminine, and skirts can indeed be very masculine if a person first understands the basic design characteristics and uses this knowledge to make some sensible selections.Show more ›

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What Is Gender Nonconformity?

As noted in another post, sex and gender are not the same thing. Sex is typically seen as a binary trait that flows from reproductive function whether that be regarded as genital, chromosomal, gonadal, hormonal, or structural. There are, of course, biologically intersex persons born with karyotype disorders, androgen insensitivity disorders, and/or genital dysgenesis disorders. According to the U.N. World Health Organization, as much as 1% to 2% of persons are born intersex worldwide. Gender, however, is more complex and is not a monolithic construct.Show more ›

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The Fundamental Flaw in HB2

As do countless citizens and corporations, I fundamentally disagreed with North Carolina’s 2016 legislation now known commonly as HB2. It was as much hateful as it was an egregious violation of federal law. I have pointed out in other posts that treating all females as frail victims incapable of defending themselves or speaking for themselves is supremely misogynistic just as it is supremely misandrist to presume all males to be menacing predators. In fact, I argue that the same mental processes which make a particular person (man or woman) a predator are the very same mental processes that make a comparable person a hero. You see, while a predator perceives a given set of circumstances as a potential victim to be exploited, a hero perceives those exact same circumstances as a potential victim in need of defense. And in this the old cartoons got it right! The hero and the villain wear identical hats and the color merely reflected the content of their character. Apart from these extremes, though, most males just go about their own business and their presence is neither good nor evil.Show more ›

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Hey Google….DBAA

Some time ago I created a Tasker profile called DBAA (Don’t Be An Asshole). Basically, this profile watched for certain keywords in wireless network names and then put the phone on vibrate based on the assumption that ringing in those locations would be undesirable (specifically, it looks for church, mosque, synagogue, shrine, theater, cinema, movie, patron, library, academy, school, elementary, middle, high, auditorium, lecture, recital, and hall). It isn’t perfect; some places might not have wifi or the wifi name might not contain one of the hotwords. Still, if it helps anywhere, it’s a benefit. But why, I wonder, hasn’t Google implemented this sort of functionality tied to Android’s location awareness? That would be easy enough and much more reliable. Of course, nothing should be forced upon the user so, like Do Not Disturb mode, a user should have the option to enable or disable. Better still, why not prompt the user to enable silent mode upon arriving at such a location?

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Circumcision Fiction

For many decades of the twentieth century, American physicians both recommended and presumed consent for routine infant circumcision. In 2009 the American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy position to state that circumcision was strictly a cultural and/or religious consideration with no medical consideration (pdf). In 2012 the American Acadrmy of Pediatrics amended its position to offer two justifications for circumcision—reduced risk of UTIs in infancy and reduced risk of STIs in adulthood (pdf). However, the AAP qualified the amended policy that its data only established a statistical benefit greater than the statistical risk. Infant circumcision was therefore categorized as an acceptable medical procedure only; the data did not establish infant circumcision as a necessary medical procedure.Show more ›

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On the Age of the Cosmos

A fundamental problem in articulating the age of the universe is that time has not always existed. Whether one subscribes to the big bang or to creationism, there is evidence that time was not constant throughout the universe’s existence.Show more ›

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The Purpose of Prayer

Not too long ago I found myself in a discussion with a Puerto Rican pastor about prayer. I dare say that most Christians believe that prayer changes our circumstances, but I say that prayer is designed to change our perceptions.Show more ›

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On Teachers’ Striking Over Salary

It has been said that the government which governs least also governs best. And as a libertarian, I think the government’s interference with those things which can be handled locally should be avoided. I have often remarked that the federal government should not be involved with school lunches. But the recent spate of teacher strikes makes me wonder where this nonsense will end.Show more ›

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Corporate Retailer Gender Policies

USA Today reports that Target does not stand alone in its respect for non-cisgender persons. Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, and Hudson Bay (Sacks Fifth Avenue, Lord & Taylor) all condone customer election of the facility that matches that customer’s gender identity. Sears (as well as its Kmart subsidiary) is not as outspoken, but condemns all forms of discrimination. Read the full print article here

And there is evidence that other companies agree. CBS affiliate KTVT reports that Ross Dress-For-Less and TJX (TJ Maxx, Marshall’s) also endorse facility election based on that customer’s gender identity. The station also reports that Walmart has no specific gender policy one way or the other. Read the full story here.

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The History of Skirted Men

Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales (1594 – 1612)In the not all too distant past, men wore unbifurcated garments and while few would want to dress like Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, it is not a novel concept that men should not be confined to trousers. Little by little, journalists, sociologists, and artists are looking into the history of skirted men and sharing their findings:

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Heroes, Villains, and Toilets

The old cartoons with the heroes in white hats and villains in black hats were pretty much right on the money. Heroes and villains can dress alike, look alike, and even act alike and if not careful, the hero can be lumped in together with the villain. Show more ›

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Another Man’s Skirt Conversion

Travis MartinRight now I’m on a train headed to Toronto, writes Travis Martin, and I will be on another train coming back, late tomorrow evening. I’ll be participating in a photoshoot at Ryerson University as part of a research project on men’s fashion. The focus of the study is men of my generation who are using fashion to express themselves, and changing what “masculinity” means in the process. I am expressing myself right now, with my fashion. It feels awesome, empowering, and….   Continue reading How (and why) to Wear a Skirt (as a man)

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The Lord’s name in vain

Of the ten commandment, the third instructs that a person “shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain” (Exodus 20:7 KJV). But what, exactly, does this mean?Show more ›

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Deep Thoughts on Book of Genesis

The creation account(s) in Genesis can be rather puzzling. Only so much can be ascertained from a literal reading of the text itself. Enlightened inquiry begins by posing questions and seeking to answer those questions. There are certain deductions and interpretations that can adduced from the self-referential metatext (that is, each creative iteration implicitly depends on predicate iterations and thus subsequent passages reveal things not explicitly disclosed by former passages). This post seeks to elucidate some of those readings, but it cannot conclusively explain everything. For that reason, one of the principal aims here is to pose more questions than answers so as to invite the reader’s own contemplation. Ultimately, though, full understanding probably depends upon prophetic revelation apart from the text proper.Show more ›

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Working Diligently But Exercising Faith

It has been said that a Christian believer cannot be in faith and in fear at the same time. Some say that fear indicates an absence of faith, but that would not seem to be borne out by scripture. Many patriarchs of the faith have stepped out in faith even though they were still afraid. God’s call to Gideon (Judges 6-8) is a perfect example. Gideon resisted God’s mission because of Gideon’s social standing, but God said something very interesting to him: “Go in the strength you have” (Judges 6:14 NIV). Here, God does not say to Gideon that he should sit back and watch God do all the work, but rather that Gideon should avail himself of, and even employ, the abilities that God placed within him.Show more ›

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But David Strengthened Himself

1 Samuel 30:6 is often quoted to those of us going through great turmoil. But it is indeed a very difficult thing to do as King David did after losing his family and home in the face of imminent insurrection by his men! So how exactly does one “strengthen [oneself] in the Lord”?Show more ›

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Who Was Uriah the Hittite And How Does His Identity Expand The Story?

One of the best known narratives of the Old Testament concerns King David’s fling with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11:1-12:23). To summarize, King David was taking a stroll on the palace roof and glimpsed a woman, Bathsheba, teh wife of Uriah the Hittite, bathing (presumably through an open window). David shags her, she becomes pregnant, and David ultimately has her husband Uriah the Hittite killed. But the significance of Uriah’s personage is not well understood. Show more ›

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From Zero to Hero

Modern history is full of people who are discarded in ministry because of past sins—particularly those who committed notably vile sins but who experienced a massive, radical conversion and personal reformation. But it is a valid proposition that God will use people in that condition regardless of past sins. One example is Manasseh, King of Judah (2 Chronicles 33:1-20).Show more ›

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Why Is “Cunt” So Radioactive?

Men do not casually call women cunts. Yes, men might casually refer to them as bitch or ho, but cunt is neither casually bantered nor indiscriminately hurled. Indeed, cunt is reserved for extraordinary cases and when it is used, it is (probably) well deserved (either on general principle or for specific conduct demonstrated at or near the moment of invocation). But why is cunt so horrifying? Perhaps it is that cunt is the ultimate reductive objectification . . . meaning that the denigrated female has absolutely no value apart from her vagina *or* that she so lacks social and intellectual value that she is equal to a whore or prostitute. Yes, in this light cunt would seem unbelievably harsh, but as far as reductive objectifications go, why is cunt so taboo while dickhead, prick, and asshole are not?

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God Can (and Does) Change His Mind

It has been said that God cannot change his mind or alter his plans once decreed. Two verses in particular point to this:

Numbers 23:19 (NIV)
God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

1 Samuel 15:29 (NIV)
He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.

But there are clear instances where God in fact changed his mind and/or altered his declared course of action. Show more ›

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Grammar, People, Grammar

I just heard an NPR correspondant say “may” when she should have said “might.” Here’s the difference: may indicated permissibility; might indicated possibility. So it is incorrect to say that an event may not occur if one is trying to communicate doubt or uncertainty of its coming to pass. The correct usage is that such an event might not occur.

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God and Dice

Understanding the Trinity Is Like Looking At Dice
Albert Einstein famously said (and Stephen Hawking famously repeated) that “God does not play dice with the universe,” but perhaps dice are marvelous illustrations for understanding the trinity.Show more ›

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God Is Love (but what does that mean?)

Christians are quick to quote 1 John 4:8b that “God is love” but how often is this quoted in a self-serving, self-affirming manner? By this I mean in the first that when going through a rough stretch in the road of life, is professing that “God is love” just a way for the sufferer to revive hope that s/he is not utterly alone? Conversely in the second, is saying “God is love” just an excuse wielded to excuse the adherent from demonstrating love for his/her neighbor? Such a Christian believer might inwardly believe that it is God’s love that summons the unbeliever to believe and that the believer’s love for the unbeliever is of no consequence whatsoever. Both these and any other conceptualizations are completely and totally incongruous with the text.Show more ›

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The Mark of the Beast

The book of Revelations describes the final days before the second coming of Christ as a time when the antichrist’s representative will “force all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name” (Rev 13:16-17 NIV).Show more ›

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Brett Kavanaugh: The Standard For Confirmation Is Not the Standard For Conviction

In my gut, I don’t want to see Brett Kavanaugh confirmed—and not just because Donald Trump wants him on the Supreme Court—that was just the first strike. Listening to the compelling testimony against him was the final nail in the coffin. But my gut was not without its heartburn for feeling that way. I disliked myself for judging a matured man for the offenses of his youth. Even so, his declaration (“I am innocent of this charge”) sounded too much like the famous “I did not have sexual relations with that woman” line. Show more ›

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Idaho’s Stupidest Candidate Bob Nonini

Earlier this year there was an AP story about an Idahoan Lt. Gov candidate who, as part of his stumping, asserted that women who undergo elective abortions should be prosecuted if Roe v. Wade is ever reversed. OK, without actually attacking his statement, let’s just examine the underlying stupidity that should disqualify him from public office. Show more ›

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Marlen Komar: “Why Most Men Still Don’t…”

Photo of freelance writer Marlen Komar“In the mainstream, gender bending still only goes one way,” writes Marlene Komar for Racked. She considers that there has always been a double standard in Western society which historically regarded men as superior to women. Therefore, women who emulate and appropriate masculine symbols (such as pants, blazers, etc) enhance their social status and are viewed as ambitious and stronger. Conversely, men who take on feminine symbols are viewed as less masculine and weaker. And she’s correct. And professor Terry Kogan would agree.Show more ›

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The Purpose of Miracles

The Apostle Paul taught that signs and wonders were for the unbelievers that they might believe. While believers certain reap benefits of miracles such as healing, the manifestation of miraculous signs were not intended to be a sign to the unbeliever of God’s existence as an omnipotent deity unlike other false gods of his day. Since believers already understand this, the working of miracles certainly benefits them, but the performance of miracles as a sign was for the unbeliever.  What exactly is this supposed to mean…that God runs a dog-and-pony show? Of course not!Show more ›

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Can Anything Happen Without the Lord’s Permission? (Part 1)

Lamentations 3:37 of the New Living Translation reads: “Can anything happen without the Lord’s permission?“1 As a starter, I want to point out that “permission” is different than direction. In a very real sense, “permission” simply means that something is allowed but not necessarily commanded. In other words, to say that nothing happens without God’s permission is, at a minimum, a statement that nothing happens without God’s awareness. This also suggests a potentially inferable consent for if an adverse event were completely intolerable or anathema to God’s plan then one could believe that God would intervene.Show more ›

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A Quick Note On Gender Expression

Gender expression is essentially the outward manifestation of a person’s gender psyche. Gender expression could also be equally described as the outward presentation of how a person wishes his/her gender to be perceives. In this light, at least, it is worth observing that presentation is characterized as much by what isn’t as what is. So the opposite of ‘masculine’ is not axiomatically ‘feminine’ but rather that which is simply anti-masculine. (And of course the inverse is true of the opposite of ‘feminine’.) So to represent that one is not [fully] masculine, it is necessary only to deconstruct the cultural aesthetic of ‘masculine’ of ‘feminine’ and this can be achieved by blending elements of both aesthetics in an unexpected, highly individualistic manner. This is the crux of what it means to be non-binary. The man who deconstructs the masculine aesthetic is not automatically pursuing the feminine aesthetic or declaring gayneas any more than the woman who deconstructs the feminine aesthetic seeks to attain the masculine aesthetic. Either is simply a representation of the gender psyche.

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Can Anything Happen Without the Lord’s Permission? (Part 2)

Two verses have been on my mind again these last two or three days. The first is John 19:11—”You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above“—and Lamentations 3:37—”Who can speak and have it happen if the Lord has not decreed it?” (NIV–1978). Another more modern translation, and the one that I really want to focus on, renders Lamentations 3:37 as “Can anything happen without the Lord’s permission?” (NLT–1996).Show more ›

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Deathbed Salvation

Many non-believers scoff at the notion of deathbead salvation. Some consider it unjust, a self-serving means to an end, or an act of fear. But ultimately it makes perfect sense if one understands the subtext of salvation which is not simply the avoidance of punishment for our musdeeds but rather restoration of humankind to fellowship with God. The essence of homo sapien’s free will is that we choose everything on the spectrum of life choices from career and criminality. And everyone’s choices reflect a personal journey toward enlightenment. For some, wisdom comes naturally while for others wisdom comes stubbornly. Regardless of how fast or how slow and how naturally or how stubbornly it comes, ultimately God is simply looking for us to come to a point where we acknowledge that we are but mere mortals whose greatest function is to worship the one and only supreme God of the universe. That is what salvation is: humbling ourselves from our own self-constructed pinnacle of intellect. It is a conscious admission that we must realize out of our free will. Salvation only requires this one act of humble worship. Whether it takes a lifetime to reach this conclusion does not negate its efficacy.

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More Thoughts on Death Penalty

I just finished watching The Ted Bundy Tapes on Netflix and I am conflicted more than ever by the death penalty. How does homocide remedy homicide? To what degree is the death penalty entrenched in antiquated Judeo-Christian religiosity? And what do the evolved states of those religions say about the preciousness of life? Does the Talmud not teach that to save one life is to save the whole world? Did Christ not teach that even the most wretched life is still worth sparing? And to what degree is pronouncing the death penalty our attempt to vangloriously exalt ourselves to equality with God to decide who should live and who should die? I think that as a society the death penalty must exist as the ultimate repudiation and condemnation of intolerable crime. But as a civilization, should we not then immediately commute that death sentence to exile (which is to say, prison)? We euthanize animals in the name of compassion, but we refuse that same compassion to those agonizing in the throes of slow natural death. Yet we force death upon those we condemn in the name of justice for the victims. Is that just a reverse–and a perverse–euthanasia? Using death in the name of compassion, not for the one dying, but for the one already dead? More death does not reverse the finality of the a priori death. And no, I haven’t been the victim of anyone like Ted Bundy, but I can say that the natural death of the alcoholic who terrorized my childhood brought me neither pleasure nor displeasure. His death closed the cover of an open book, but it did not erase the contents of the chapters.

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God Isn’t the Author of Confusion?

Many years ago someone whipped out the “God is not the author of confusion” line on me to justify her position. In the moment I disagreed with her application of the principle, but I could not soundly refute it either. I failed to recognize the logical fallacy; she failed to consider the implications of her statement.Show more ›

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More Enthusiasm for Sport Than for One’s “Neighbor”?

I just stumbled upon a 1970s or 1980s Billy Graham crusade. He said: “here in this stadium when you have a football game, if you’re really for Texas Tech you’re really gonna shout loud when they make a touchdown and the man who loves his neighbor the most will fight all that hurts and deprives and oppresses his neighbor. Paul said, ‘who is offended and I burn not?'”Show more ›

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Homo Sapien

Is being “sapien” homo’s Achilles’ heel? Homo sapien’s life might be an easier existence but is it a better existence? Shouldn’t it be preferable to live in a state of nature? So is our sapienhood a perversity of evolution or a cruelty of creation?Show more ›

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Hypocrisy of a “Christian Nation”

It is ridiculous and incredible that as a popularly-styled “Christian Nation” American society requires laws compelling compassion and fairness (by way of example, Colorado’s and Washington State’s laws on public accommodations). While the government should not dictate the conscientious objections of private enterprise, neither should private enterprise be allowed to hatefully mistreat a class of people. Show more ›

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A Guy’s Guide to Basic Aesthetic Improvement

A man need not be “trans” or “metro” to want to present his most attractive self to the world. After all, men shave (or shape) their facial hair and style their hair in a manner that they see as enhancing their aesthetic. I do not want suggest that all men wear full-on cosmetics, but having some knowhow in a back pocket and some basic tools in a gearbag can really prove useful! After all, ho hasn’t had a important photo scheduled or a really big date planned or a really big presentation prepared only to see a giant pimple, an ingrown hair, or a boneheaded razor nick in the bathroom mirror?Show more ›

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Laws & Outlaws

I stumbled upon a politician’s Facebook meme yesterday that employed at least a hundred words to restate a very succinct bumper sticker of the 1980 : “If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.” This truth—that laws only regulate the law-abiding—is not true only of guns.Show more ›

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Amadou Diallo

In February 1999, four plain-clothes New York City cops shot and killed 23 year-old African immigrant Amadou Diallo more than 40 times in the doorway of his own home. Diallo was unarmed. The cops were acquitted of second degree murder.Show more ›

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Lesbians and Transwomen — Part 1

Without judging the writer, let me say that am a little baffled by this opinion piece that I stumbled upon just now. Perhaps it is simply that, being neither ciswoman nor transwoman, I am unable to relate to the argument of “Lesbians need to get the L out of the LGBT+ community.” That said, I think the author is defending a ciswoman’s right to be exclusively attracted to ciswomen. Taking the role of spokesperson for like-minded lesbians, she complains of pressure form gay and/or transgender community to consider transwomen as romantic candidates. With the caveat that no one has a right dismissively label another person’s opinion, I find myself in conflicting (dis)agreement. Show more ›

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Selective Cognition

It occurs to me that the longstanding phrase “selective hearing” does not convey greater disconnects. In addition to “selective hearing (audition),” one should contemplate “selection seeing (vision),” and, worst of all, “selective thinking (cognition).”

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Simultaneous Misogyny and Misandry?

I found myself in a brief conversation today about gender roles. Specifically, the topic was equitable division of labor in the family, that is, where one spouse or partner is the career breadwinner and the other is the homemaker. All available indicators point to the thriving gender bias that men are expected to be breadwinners and women, the homemakers. But this tacit social norm is simultaneously misandrist and misogynist. Show more ›

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Amber Guyger

I’m going to predict that Amber Guyger will be (or should be) convicted of the lesser manslaughter. It is so bizarre. No explanation makes sense. I can believe that she was so tired as to go to the wrong apartment. I could also believe that she was doing blow or meth to stay awake and work those extended hours (which, btw, in and of itself is full of shit; plenty of departments work standard 12-hour shifts). Whether she was exhausted or not, the first response of any person is not to shoot. If I were in my home and someone walked in, yeah, it would be lights out. But if I walked into my home and immediately saw an intruder, I’d duck out as fast as I could and re-assess the situation from cover. If I came home and found my door ajar, I’m not sure what I would do. And maybe that’s what happened for her, but her always-right, never-wrong, bad-ass cop programming took over and she acted as if she had just responded to a burglary in process. But even then, she would have been justified in shooting if she saw a weapon or something that appeared to be a weapon. I am unaware of any such testimony. Whether she was mistaken or not, she was negligent. Her negligence caused the death of a person. That is manslaughter.

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Bastardization

Way back in 1998 I adopted what I thought was a colloquial neologism of a fellow undergraduate. It turns out, though, that “bastardize” as meaning “to reduce from a higher to a lower state or condition” is recognized by Merriam-Webster. I wonder when its original 1585 meaning was bastardized to its present form?

 

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In a Man’s World

Bravo has a cutting new series titled In a Man’s World.  Women from various walks of life receive full-body muscle suits, and craniofacial prosthetics to create a physique that is out of this world. The women also receive vocal and movement coaching and then simulate their regular selves….as a man. The circumstances and settings are a bit artificial (after all, some explanation has to be offered for the presence of video cameras) but some balance is achieved with additional hidden cameras. What I find most interesting about the series, though, is the coaches’ observations of the subtle differences between men and women. Esco Jouléy’s keen insight into body movement is fascinating and empowering for skirted men wishing to amplify their masculine aura.

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On Securing Liberty

He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself.Thomas Paine (1795)

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Pharmaceutical Commercials

Isn’t it an absurdity of absurdities when pharmaceutical commercials say, “Do not take [this drug] if you are allergic to it or to any of its ingredients.” Isn’t that a no-brainer? If it were a commercial for steak, would it say, “do not eat this meat if you are a vegetarian”?

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Skirts, Pants, and Deuteronomy 22:5

Cognitively-challenged Christians are eager to invoke Deuteronomy 22:5—in judgment of women as well as of men—that “woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD.” Some denominations read this as requiring women to wear dresses (or, in the contrapositive, as prohibiting women from wearing pants). Likewise, Deuteronomy 22:5 has been invoked to condemn and deny skirts as menswear. This was certainly my experience when I “saw the light” and “converted” to skirts in 2016, but it has taken me three years to get around to publishing this formal rebuttal.Show more ›

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Android, Apple, and iTunes 12

When it comes to cell phones, Android and iPhone are like capitalism and communism or democracy and dictatorship. The iPhone is a great product that delivers a reliable user experience. On the other hand, iPhone innovation is unbearably handicapped and stifled by Apple’s authoritarian control over developers. Yes, this does ensure a reliable user experience, but it also prevents good (but imperfect) ideas from reaching users where consumption will give rise to free-market improvement. But for all of Apple’s focus on user experience, it really fucked up on iTunes 12.10.x.Show more ›

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Nymphomania and Satyriasis

I was cogitating on the perceptive societal dissimilarities of sexuality while turning the use of “nymphomania” over in my head. The “nymphomania” label (to say nothing of “nympho”) carries an implicit connotation of abnormality and even a subtext of whoredom that is not commensurately accorded to males (the implication being that males are whorish dogs whose sexuality is valueless while the sexuality of women is valuable). There is so, so much to unpack here, but for now I want to mention a particularly interesting preliminary finding. It turns out that there is a male analogue called “satyriasis.” That said, the fact that no one ever hears this word is itself a statement on society’s dissimilar treatment of female and male sexuality, ignoring the male conduct and stigmatizing the female conduct.

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On Righteous Causes

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Adam and Eve

According to the Genesis (chapter 2) account in which Eve was “extracted” from Adam, that means Adam was the biological sum of man and woman. So Adam became man simultaneously with Eve becoming woman. Man and woman were thus created simultaneously, not sequentially. Man is not preeminent over woman.

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Go F*** Yourself

To all those closed minds who cannot examine their own thoughts and to those who judge others and to those who spit hypocrisy…
Business card saying "Go Fuck Yourself"
It is so gratifying to say “let me leave you my business card” and then hand this off. Show more ›

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Such Things Are Bound to Happen

Well, it looks like my database maintenance resulted in the loss of some content last Sunday. Fortunately I am an inveterate archivist and I had exported a database backup just before starting. That said, I’ve now lost one post from Sunday evening and two updates to existing posts. But all said and done….I’d rather be certain of recovering lost content that I might never identify than losing edits that I would probably overwrite in a few months anyway. C’est la vie.

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How The Mighty Have Fallen

I was just watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, S3E13 “Déjà Q” when Guinan says, “how the mighty have fallen!” That reminded me of a spoken word prelude in a 1990s Cindy Morgan song and got me to wondering about the origin of that phrase so I Googled it thinking it might have been Shakespeare. To my surprise it turned out to be from the Bible! “How the mighty have fallen! The weapons of war have perished!” 2 Samuel 1:27 (NIV)

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Joseph and Esther

For about two years now I’ve been incubating a post on Joseph’s words in Genesis 50:20 (“you meant evil against me but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”) There are a plenty of other stoic agents of change, but tonight I was struck by the similarity of Mordecai’s words to Esther: “Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14 NKJV).

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Deconstructing Goliath

Malcolm Gladwell has an observant TED Talk deconstructing the image of Goliath. Gladwell’s ultimate thesis is that Goliath likely suffered acromegaly. This would account for Goliath’s size, but also afflicted Goliath with an Achillean visual deficit. Gladwell then premises that the story of David and Goliath should not be construed as one of a triumphant underdog, but rather one of clever strategy by a bold soul completely comfortable with being underestimated. I think Gladwell presents a truly edifying argument, but he also misses some other profoundly important considerations. Show more ›

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What’s Your Damage, Anyway?

I was just reflecting on a past confrontation where a niece spewed unwarranted hate and vitriol (she’s a millennial, of course). In retrospect, I wish I had said something like I don’t know what your damage is, but what right have you to visit that damage upon me? A former pastor used to say that hurting people pretty much do two things consistently: 1) they are easily hurt by other people and 2) they easily hurt other people. When someone is blinded by psychic trauma or by a sense of social entitlement, it’s hard to say whether such a person could comprehend the truth, but it’s worth a shot.

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Forthcoming Post

Dear readers and subscribers — I am beginning work on a new two-part post titled “Hyposissification and Hypermasculinization” that tries to tackle the egalitarian defect of fashion design. I’m asking for crowd-source help to gather examples of übermasculine figures in “skirted” attire (I’m thinking of warrior archetypes such as from graphic novels or movies such as The 300, This is Sparta, Gladiator, etc, apart from kilt motifs of, say, Braveheart). Please comment or email me. Many thanks.

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The New York Times: “Skirts for Men?”

New York Times (1984) - "Skirts for Men? Yes and No."The social acceptability of men wearing skirts is by no means a nascent subject, but has has anything really changed since the Industrial Revolution? In 1984, the New York Times ran this piece regarding a Paris fashion show featuring men in skirts that was, according to French designer David Hechter, “the most important thing to happen in fashion in the past 20 years!” Hechter was one of the first designers to break fashion norms previously “when it was scandal for women to wear pants.” Rodney Martin puts a sharper point on it: “It makes me feel free. It’s a statement by which I can say I am free to do whatever I want. It does cause hostility on the streets, though. Sometimes I keep my coat closed over my skirt so no one will see it. And I do have to sit differently. But it’s not about being a woman.”Show more ›

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The Time a Cop Touched My Junk at a Club

A few months after the “double standards” occurrence, I was again at the same club and speaking with two ladies. Something in the conversation prompted a third to disclose that she was municipal police (and although the club was not in that city, municipal police in this state have extended jurisdiction for the entire county in which the city partially lies, which did include the county of this particular club). No fan of cops (and definitely not white cops), I excused myself from the conversation and went on my way. Over the course of the eveningShow more ›

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Les dangers du jour

It occurs to me that America enjoys obsessing over pathogenic dangers and maladies. Following the Al-Qaeda attack of 9/11, Americans went insane in the membrane over Anthrax. By 2003 America wrung its hands about West Nile virus. In 2009 America deployed millions of gallons of hand sanitizer in response to grave prognostications of H1N1 swine flu. In 2014 America went bonkers over Ebola.  In 2016 America obsessed over Zika. In 2020, America conked its skull on Coronavirus. America, it seems, needs new obsessions to forget its former preoccupations.

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Alternate DNS Servers

If you want to cut down on the data that your ISP collects and sells regarding your web browsing, use an alternate free (and probably faster) DNS service.

Provider IPv4 IPv6
Cloudflare 1.1.1.1
1.0.0.1		 2606:4700:4700::1111
2606:4700:4700::1001
Google 8.8.8.8
8.8.4.4		 2001:4860:4860::8888
2001:4860:4860::8844
OpenDNS 208.67.222.222
208.67.220.220		 2620:119:35::35
2620:119:53::53
OpenDNS
Family Shield		 208.67.222.123
208.67.220.123		 ::ffff:d043:de7b
::ffff:d043:dc7b

 

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European Men, the Historical Initiators of High Heels

Very few people know it, but high-heeled footwear actually began among European men. Women then emulated the style, daintifying it in the process. in time, the fashion fell out of favor (perhaps for practicality) among men which leaves society with the mistaken belief that high-heeled shoes are uniquely feminine. Cowboy boots are “high-heels,” as Jill Maurer points out. Show more ›

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Internal Paradox

I find myself in a special paradox where my higher self observes my lower self. It’s like I am simultaneously the parent of my inner child and the child of my inner parent.

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On Doctrinal Differences

The first-century Apostles sought to quell with doctrinal infighting. Modern believers sustain doctrinal infighting.  Arguments against infighting just trigger more infighting. What does Scripture state?Show more ›

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Self-proving Dress Codes

If an employer specifies distinct garments for males and for females, and if a “male” employee wears a garment classified for the opposite gender, then by definition that male is due to be construed as a member of the other gender. The dress code thus self-proves the validity of his attire.Show more ›

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The American President ACLU Rant

For the record, yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU, but the more important question is “Why aren’t you, Bob?” Now this is an organization whose sole purpose is to defend the Bill of Rights, so it naturally begs the question, why would a senator, his party’s most powerful spokesman and a candidate for President, choose to reject upholding the constitution? Now if you can answer that question, folks, then you’re smarter than I am, because I didn’t understand it until a few hours ago.Show more ›

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“So Far, So Good”

It’s getting harder to remember, feeling lost and lonely, ’cause it seems we’ve been together for so long. I’ve been living in the moment, so I never stopped to measure all the miles that passed the places where we’ve gone.

And when I try to count the ways your love has carried me, it doesn’t take me very long to see…Show more ›

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When you don’t know what to do…

One of my 9th grade teachers, Doug Scott, wisely told me “when you don’t know what to do, go on what you know.” To this I add, “because if you knew it was as trustworthy [knowledge/judgment] yesterday, it will still be trustworthy today.” It might seem like treading water, but treading is better than swimming the wrong direction when you’re already worn out.

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A Pentecostal First Amendment Objection

I am not saying that face coverings should be worn nor am I saying that face coverings should not be worn; I am saying that governments must not compel it. You see, while I am a stalwart libertarian, I am also a pentecostal Christian. I contend that such mandates go against my sincere religious beliefs.Show more ›

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“Name It, Claim It”

There was a popular charismatic Christian mantra the 1980s and 1990s known as “name it and claim it.” The idea was that Christians would articulate a particular desire—usually material—and claim that as God’s promise to them as believers. Psalm 37:4 often accompanied this confession of faith: “take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart” (NIV) and Proverbs 13:22b “the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous” (NASB). It was a widely popular faith proclamation that stood in sharp contrast to humble hearth and home. As a matter of personal interpretation, I would have to say that God’s desire for humankindShow more ›

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Marsh v. Alabama, 326 U.S. 501 (1946)

Marsh v. Alabama is a remarkable decision in which a Jehova’s witness attempted to distribute literature in a township operated by a private company. She was arrested and charged with trespass. The Supreme Court reasoned that even though the township existed within the property rights of a private company, “[o]wnership does not always mean absolute dominion. The more an owner, for his advantage, opens up his property for use by the public in general, the more do his rights become circumscribed by the statutory and constitutional rights of those who use it.” The U.S. Supreme Court reversed Alabama on First Amendment grounds and vacated Marsh’s state conviction. Supreme Court opinions from the era are notably concise and this one is definitely worth the read.  Marsh v. Alabama

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The Mask of the Mark of the Beast

Scripture speaks of a time when the government “causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads. And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark.” (Rev 13:16-17 KJV). I have been vocal about the threat that corona-hysteria government overreach poses to religious liberty, but I now also see a grave eschatological danger.Show more ›

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Whether and How to Wear Skirts (as a Male)

Reviewing Google’s search data I was surprised to see queries about how to wear a skirt (the suggested subtext being “. . .as a male”). I have seen this and similar queries on Quora were a variation asks whether a parent should allow a boy to wear skirts “like a girl.” The answer to both is astoundingly simple:Show more ›

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First-Amendment Inclusiveness

The same First Amendment which guarantees freedom of expression and freedom of speech, also puts a qualifier on it as “the right of the people peaceably to assemble”. At first blush those words are taken to mean that citizens have the right to congregate, whether that be to exercise the First-Amendment freedoms or to seek government redress of grievances; however, those words could just as easily be read to condition all First-Amendment freedoms upon a righteous purpose Show more ›

Lorem Ipsum

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Cras luctus augue nec magna tincidunt tincidunt. Etiam vehicula tortor at cursus tincidunt. Mauris elementum sed velit a mollis. Aenean sed massa eleifend, dignissim diam ut, accumsan ex. Sed libero nisi, euismod sit amet nulla sed, porta dignissim turpis. Integer egestas, nulla molestie lacinia vehicula, augue mauris efficitur mauris, sed commodo odio felis in velit. Ut lacus orci, consequat nec facilisis vel, faucibus ac lacus. Orci varius natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Ut bibendum, arcu a semper laoreet, dolor tellus molestie diam, quis finibus erat mi in lectus. Ut in vehicula ipsum.

Pellentesque eu volutpat nisl. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Vestibulum bibendum sit amet arcu et sodales. In dolor nibh, cursus id luctus lacinia, egestas sit amet ipsum. Vivamus facilisis neque eget eros cursus, in ullamcorper elit mattis. Phasellus laoreet volutpat libero id viverra. Pellentesque euismod neque at tortor imperdiet, consequat elementum mi pellentesque. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vestibulum semper sem nisi, ut accumsan risus interdum sed. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Proin semper felis lacus, sed elementum risus convallis non. Fusce consequat placerat turpis, a tempor nisl vulputate in. Nam lacinia finibus congue. Phasellus ut est vitae massa ultrices imperdiet a sit amet est. Donec in semper nisl, at sollicitudin purus. Vestibulum ut accumsan felis.

Cras a vehicula magna. Proin ultricies dignissim sodales. Sed malesuada porttitor orci vel placerat. Mauris in enim tincidunt, consectetur metus et, imperdiet ipsum. Pellentesque sem eros, imperdiet in ultricies at, ornare vitae tellus. Quisque ut scelerisque elit. Ut congue dignissim ligula, vel ultrices mi dapibus eget. Suspendisse venenatis leo diam, ac porta quam commodo et. Duis est justo, laoreet at felis sit amet, fermentum ultrices diam. Nunc sollicitudin laoreet massa eget malesuada. Ut vel hendrerit enim. Maecenas enim ligula, blandit ac elit et, posuere ornare dolor.

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My Grace Is Sufficient (for you?)

Most Christians are familiar with the “thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan” that tormented the Apostle Paul (II Cor 12:7 KJV). Just before this, Paul wrote at length about all the glories that he had experienced as a minister of the Gospel (an implied subtext being that he would never have experienced such things as a passionate, but lifeless pharisee). “Three different times [Paul] begged the Lord to take it away” (II Cor 12:8 NLT). This juxtaposition of highs and lows sounds a whole lot like someone struggling with self-doubt.Show more ›

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Mountains, Valleys, & Transitions

Among the hardest words to internalize are these: you are where you need to be. Those words never come at the heights of success nor in the throes of ecstacy nor in the still waters of contentment; they come in the disenchanting valleys of transition between mountaintops. Valleys are where all the mountain runoff and detritus and pollutants collect as if to be ignominiously relegated to drink only of the mountains’ bathwater. But valleys are far more fertile than the mountaintops and while the natural elements will erode the mountains, valleys will never cease to be valleys and will enjoy the protection of the mountains which need not be perceived as hopes unattained but as insulators and protectors awaiting the moment. Valley water might not delight the palate in the moment, but it is plentiful and predictable; you will not thirst in the valley as on the mountain.

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Live With Nature

The country has lost its mind trying to control the uncontrollable. Trying to stop pathogenic dispersion is like trying to prevent California wildfires. Humans want to think that our evolved intellect empowers us to bend nature to our wills. The reality is that all animals–homo or otherwise–must live with and within nature. Human suppression of natural fire turns the surrounding nature into a tinderbox. Fire is a critical part of nature’s ecosystem. Pathogens are too. I don’t hear all the macroevolutionists Show more ›

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Well-Regulated Militia & Right to Bear Arms

I have heard opponents argue that the second-amendment’s “well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state” is subsumed by the National Guard such that there is no right for citizens to organize lay-militia. Without expressing an opinion on lay-militia and para-militia groups, I’m not convinced that the subsuming approach is correct.Show more ›

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When Coronavirus Gets Really Personal

A number of people, quite understandably, have not taken fondly to my vocal fortress-of-fear / fortress-of-faith position. We shall now see whether that position is summarily disproven should I test positive. Of course, testing negative does not affirm my position, but a positive result would presumptively invalidate it. But when it is all said and done, I elected to self-isolate because, should I test positive, others should not suffer the consequences of my inadequate faith. To be absolutely clear, though, nothing I have stated, past or present, should be construed to suggest that those who contract corona are somehow lacking in faith. In this life, misfortunes do strike undeserving people. This does not mean that God intends for anyone to suffer or that God wishes to instruct us by way of suffering. While commendable for a suffering soul to be able to glean something positive from tragedy, God must be viewed as benevolent. God no more causes one to die of corona than God would cause one to die from an earthquake. There simply are natural forces at work that were long ago set in motion and which play themselves out. Earthquakes happen, hurricanes happen, mental illness happens, All of these can result in considerable tragedy and losses of life. Pure evil also happens (Pearl Harbor, 9/11, JFK).Show more ›

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A Powerless Form of Godliness

Paul wrote to Timothy that “in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves [… h]aving a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; […e]ver learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (2 Tim 3 KJV)Show more ›

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Gnostic Theology

People like Ben Carson and Mike Pence shade intellectual Christians as much as they flame dogmatic Christians. As for me, yes, I can engage philosophical arguments without fear of sacrificing belief. Argument might alter my concept of God but argument will never change my belief in God.

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Evolution as Religion

Human evolutionAn exceeding number of evangelical Christians have long crusaded against Evolution Theory solely because it discredits Abrahamic teaching. But is this really the most appropriate doctrinal or theological battleground? It occurs to me today—and I hope to explore the idea in a future post—that Evolution Theory is a greater doctrinal threat to the premise of salvation than it is to scriptural inerrancy. Show more ›

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My Shield, My Strength…My Very Present Help

I found myself reflecting on the 2002 Hillsong lryic: I will bless the Lord forever, and I will trust Him at all times. He has delivered me from all fear… I will not be moved, and I’ll say of the Lord… You are my shield, my strength, my portion, deliverer, my shelter, strong tower, my very present help in time of need…


While largely a paraphrase of the 34th Psalm, it really boils it down to a kernel.Show more ›

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Just because (wo)men do(n’t)….

Just because women normally do (or don’t do) a-b-c and just beause men generally do (or don’t do) d-e-f does not mean non-conformity is inherently improper. After all, most people eat whatever they wish, but then there are vegetarians…..

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Love Your Neighbor *as* Yourself

Christ’s ‘great commandment’ instructs Christians to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength’ […and to] ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:30-31 NIV). This summation, of course, recompiles a few Old Testament passages, notably, Leviticus 19:18 (“love your neighbor as yourself.”) A week or so ago I commented on another professor’s blog post that loving our neighbor *as* ourselves means that we must love ourselves equally as others. By way of example, a battered spouse should not remain with an abusive partner because, no matter the love for the partner, the battered spouse must love the self as much as the other. A loving parent does not place a beloved child in harm’s way so neither should a loving self place a beloved self in harm’s way. Today my eyes were opened to another implication of Mark 12:31.Show more ›

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Life Struggles

Why do those who have never experiened soul-crushing struggle think themselves equipped to mentor those who are working through their issues?

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Jeannette Cooperman: “Why Women Can Dress Like Men But Not Vice Versa”

Photo of essayist Jeannette Cooperman“How culpable are heterosexual, cisgender women in keeping men boxed in?,” wonders Jeannette Cooperman. “I take real pleasure in wearing [men’s jeans and shirts],” she writes. “Also in using power tools, swearing, and drinking bourbon. But when my not-exactly-hard-drinking husband tried to order a banana daiquiri in a pub, I did a facepalm.” To state the obvious, “male characteristics are so rich with success and strength and feminine things are associated with weakness and fragility.”  Read her full essay on WUSTL’s Common Reader.

 

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Matthew West: Truth Be Told

Lie number one you’re supposed to have it all together, and when they ask how you’re doing just smile and tell them “never better.” Lie number two everybody’s life is perfect except yours, so keep your messes and your wounds and your secrets safe with you behind closed doors. Truth be told, the truth is rarely told.

I say I’m fine, yeah I’m fine oh I’m fine, hey I’m fine but I’m not. I’m broken. Show more ›

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What I Became Because of You

In Star Trek S4E12 (“The Wounded”), the Enterprise crew are forced to cooperate with Cardassian leadership to stop a rogue Federation captain from destroying their fragile peace. The Cardassians’ presence aboard the ship is barely tolerable, but after dialogue with his wife, Chief O’Brian is later able to articulate an especially perspicacious explanation for his animosity.

“The only people left alive were in an outlying district of the settlement. I was sent there with a squad to reinforce them. Cardassians were advancing on us, moving through the streets, destroying, killing. I was with a group of women and children when two Cardassian soldiers burst in. I stunned one of them. The other jumped me. We struggled. One of the women threw me a phaser, and I fired. The phaser was set at maximum. The man just incinerated, there before my eyes. I’d never killed anything before. When I was a kid, I’d worry about swatting a mosquito. It’s not you I hate, Cardassian. I hate what I became because of you.“

So I wonder, how many of us become bitterly angry at a spouse or a parent or a corporation when the interaction fundamentally changes an idealism that shapes out identity? Do we really hate or are we morning the loss of our innocence?

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Umpires and Referees Are Better Impartial Observers Than Police

It occurs to me just now, and I will develop this more in the future posts, but sports officials are better observers in their professions than police are in their professions. Just by way of comparison, what percentage of video replays show a referee or umpire was incorrect in his (now her as well) initial assessment of split-second events? What percentage of body and dash cameras show police were dead wrong on events that crescendo over a period of minutes? Yes, there are

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Terminiello v. Chicago, 337 U.S. 1 (1949)

The value of this decision eloquently rests in two paragraphs:

The vitality of civil and political institutions in our society depends on free discussion. As Chief Justice Hughes wrote in De Jonge v. Oregon, 299 U.S. 353, 365, it is only through free debate and free exchange of ideas that government remains responsive to the will of the people and peaceful change is effected. The right to speak freely and to promote diversity of ideas and programs is therefore one of the chief distinctions that sets us apart from totalitarian regimes.

Accordingly a function of free speech under our system of government is to invite dispute. It may indeed best serve its high purpose when it induces a condition of unrest, creates dissatisfaction with conditions as they are, or even stirs people to anger. Speech is often provocative and challenging. It may strike at prejudices and preconceptions and have profound unsettling effects as it presses for acceptance of an idea. That is why freedom of speech, though not absolute, Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, supra, pp. 571-572, is nevertheless protected against censorship or punishment, unless shown likely to produce a clear and present danger of a serious substantive evil that rises far above public inconvenience, annoyance, or unrest. See Bridges v. California, 314 U.S. 252, 262; Craig v. Harney, 331 U.S. 367, 373. There is no room under our Constitution for a more restrictive view. For the alternative would lead to standardization of ideas either by legislatures, courts, or dominant political or community groups.

These two paragraphs are cited and recited in speeches  briefs, arguments, and decisions. Read the full decision

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Pro-Life, Yet Not Pro-Health?

Right-wing Christians grandstand on potentiating “unborn” lives with no apparent thought to the quality of those lives. I am this moment reminded of John 10:10 where Jesus said “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” How exactly can one be pro-life without also being pro-healthcare? Conservatives have (as should all) a distrust of government overreach and tyranny, but to be pro-life must necessarily also mean being pro-abundant-life. What use is it to have life without quality of life? And life cannot be narrowly classified as birth but as all those who have been born but not yet died. To be pro-life must mean (as the Catholic church teaches) opposing capital punishment. It must also mean making healthcare available to all—not just the wealthy, not just ‘the least of these’—but to all and to those between. And it probably also means dispensing the same quality and access to healthcare just as it means the equal right to live.

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What To Call Skirts Marketed For Men?

Part of the women’s liberation movement was inventing new vocabulary which enabled women to differentiate their agenda as the pursuit of equality (not emulation). Women sought to be treated equally as men (particularly in employment) but it was also clear that they were not to be regarded as men. Employment law shifted accordingly: if trousers were acceptable attire for men, they must also be acceptable attire for women. And since men were not required to wear stockings or heels, neither could women. As I have pointed out in other posts, these cultural strides were not reciprocated for men. While it remained acceptable for women to wear sandals to the office, I have yet to read a single employee dress code that  specifically extends such option to men. (Granted, no one wants to see most men’s feet, and most men lack fashion sensibility to select dignified sandals, but the same can be said for a number of women as well.)Show more ›

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Naked In Nature

As I lay there naked in the heavy dampness and slight chill with only the drizzle and the creek accompanying me in the blackness, I contemplated the existence of my earlier hominin ancestors sheltering such nights in caves. Show more ›

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Why Are Skirts Perceived As Feminine?

Before the women’s liberation movement, skirts were just what women wore. In post-liberation America, skirts became something that accentuated the female identity rather than just aligning with the identity. With Queen Victoria’s prudishness far in the rearview mirror, hemlines rose and skirts no longer merely accentuated gender, but became a means of summoning attention once society finally admitted the legitimacy of a woman’s sexual self. Would it be unreasonable to think that males therefore came to cognitively associate skirts with exaggerated femininity?  After all, that seems to be the only time most men take notice of how women dress—when the skirt is styled to stand out or the pants are tight or the shorts are extra short. In other words, males fail to notice (or the brain fails to imprint) when women wear anything “ordinary” that does not compel attention. That leaves only the out-of-ordinary to be noticed.  And if it is out of the ordinary for a man to skirt, that gets noticed. Could it be as simple as men failing to notice the aesthetic range of women’s skirts, noticing only when women wear certain skirts and therewith construe all skirts as a purposeful intent to assert femininity?

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On God’s Complexity

God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, yes. God is also omnitemporal, omnidimensional, and omnilingual. [Edit: Actually, wouldn’t God be translingual, that is, God transcends language? What about transtemporal? Transdimensional?]

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Lions all around (Daniel 6:22)

Everyone knows the story of Daniel in the lion’s den. King Darius was duped into issuing an irrevocable decree to worship a sixty-foot tall idol. When Daniel refused, his political enemies hauled him before the king. Realizing the deceit of his own officials, Darius waited until the last possible moment to send Daniel into the den (Dan 6:14) saying, “may your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you” (Dan 6:16). Then at the earliest possible moment, Darius went to the den (Dan 6:19) to inquire, “has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” (Dan 6:20). Daniel responded: “they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him” (Dan 6:22).Show more ›

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On Achieving

If you want the things you’ve never had, stop doing the things you’ve always done. —‍Vox

Similarly, if you want the things you’ve never had, start doing things you’ve never done. —‍Vox

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Faith “Like” Mustard Seed

“For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Mt 17:20 ESV).Show more ›

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On Faith

Be it unto me according to my faith and be my faith unto me according to your faithfulness. —‍Vox

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A New Take on Peter’s Denial

Everyone knows that Peter adamantly denied his association with Jesus, but no one examines why or how Peter found himself in his predicament. There was another disciple in the courtyard so why wasn’t denial an issue for him?Show more ›

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Judas and Caiaphas

Speaking to Pilate, Jesus said in John 19:11, “he who delivered me over to you the greater sin.” Most readers assume that Jesus implicated Judas, but it is more probable that Jesus had Caiaphas in mind for “it was Caiaphas who had advised the Jews that it would be expedient that one man should die for the people” (John 18:14). “They therefore led Jesus from Caiaphas to the Prætorium” (John 18:28) complaining to Pilate that “it is not lawful for us to put anyone to death” (John 18:31). Therefore, it would appear that Jesus indicated that it was Caiaphas who “had the greater sin” for delivering Jesus to Pilate for the purpose of dying. For his part, it appears that Judas had no foreknowledge of Caiaphas’s intentions because when Judas “saw that Jesus was condemned, he felt remorse […] saying, ‘I have sinned in that I betrayed innocent blood'” (Matthew 27:3-4).

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Second Amendment Restrictions

Americans might be more willing to accept gun/ammo restrictions if such were applied equally to the militarization-thirsty (and qualifiedly-immune) police. The second amendment is substantively a repudiation and protection from the one law for me, another law for thee conduct of state actors. Let them lead by example by demilitarizing themselves before they ask citizens to demilitarize. Then there would truly be no need for such gear.

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In Jesus’s Name (Part 1)

Perhaps because Scripture says that “in my name” they will perform signs and miracles (Mk 16:17-18), Christians of all flavors, and almost without exception, conclude prayers for miraculous interventions with “In Jesus’s name…”. Pentecostals are quick to invoke “in Jesus’s name” to command matters to transpire. The thing is, that’s not what “name” meant in the Jewish cultural context of Jesus’s day. As Timothy Keller frequently explains, “name” connoted “personhood,” like when a son handles his father’s business affairs while the father is away, or when an ambassador exercises abroad the authority of her nation, or when mayors express the sentiments of their cities, they act in a name. To act “in name” is to act in a power-of-attorney capacity. It is to act on another person’s behalf. Show more ›

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Climate Reparation Fallout

Small, second-world nations will band together in coalition(s?) for climate-change reparations and will exert tremendous demand-side economic pain until they get it. As wealth flows downward, first- and upper second-world nations will coalesce to sanction the former for their actions and cut them off from specific products. the former will then attack the later.

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“Receive the Holy Spirit”

On the evening after his resurrection, Jesus “breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.'” (Jn 20:22). How, then, is it possible to become “filled with the Holy Spirit” seven weeks later on Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4) if the disciples had already received the Holy Spirit?Show more ›

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Science, the New Polytheism

Throughout the coronavirus hysteria of 2020, policymakers and their designees spoke incessantly of “following the science.” The word science comes from Latin, scire, meaning knowledge. When academics speak of science they usually intend it to mean “scientific method” which is the use of empirical (i.e. “observable”) evidence to confirm or refute a hypothesis. However, being that COVID-19 was the first-ever global epidemic, there was nothing upon which or by which to assess the efficacy of countermeasures. As invoked, “follow the science” meant “trust the experts” which, in turn, conveyed an expectation to have faith in the speculative opinions of credentialed humans.Show more ›

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ALMOST….

Vox has nearly returned to civilization, with more than a few hand-written posts to push out, but there are also thousands and thousands of email to be parsed first.

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Lorie Smith, What Would Jesus Do?

Does anyone remember the WWJD wristbands from the 1990s? Jesus opposed all that the pharisees stood for, yet he welcomed them into his gatherings. If they were not among the attendees, how were they have been there to pose questions to him? They tried to compel his speech about paying taxes to Caesar (Mt 22:17, Mk 12:14, Lk 20:22). But what did Jesus do? He got creative and avoided the very words that the Pharisees expected put in his mouth. Whether it is baking a cake or designing a wedding website, can we not love these neighbors as ourselves? Should a Christian refuse to love her neighbors by withholding alms from homeless lesbians? Should the Christian who pulls off the road to assist stranded motorists drive away when he adduces them to be homosexually-wedded men? Not every Christian is sufficiently spiritually mature to implement what I propose here, but why can’t Christians design a wedding website or cake while engaging in genuine loving prayer for the customer-celebrants? And shouldn’t a Christian do that for every such customer, even the heterosexual ones? Indeed, can the designer not imprint a resonant verse like “God Is Love”? (1 John 4:8,16) Does that not avoid the issue, love our neighbor, and plant a highly memorable seed that the Holy Spirit can cultivate over time? Tragically, high profile battles like Creative, LLC, and Masterpiece Cake Shop only injure Christianity’s message. I’m relieved that SCOTUS preserved free speech protections, but I wish this case had never been brought.

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Heavy Are The Shoulders That Wear the Mantle

Various congregations practice all sorts of titles beyond the recognized pastor, deacon, and elder. They commonly embellish with Minister Doe, Evangelist Jones, Psalmist Lee, and Prophet Smith. The thing is, calling oneself “Prophet Smith” is pretty much an automatic indicator that Brother Smith is no prophet at all.Show more ›

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I Still Don’t Understand Religious “Modesty”

Perhaps it is just something peculiar to my neurodiverse brain (probably), but religious “modesty” practices are nonsensical. Why is an ankle-length skirt “modest”? Is an exposed calf that alluring? And why is such skirt a “modesty” when the presence of the ass is still known and the form of the breasts is still evident? The reality is that there is no universal anatomic feature that captivates every man. As is best known, there are “ass men” and “tits men” and yet this is absolutely too reductionist. Men are likewise captivated by Show more ›

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A wasting, wretched, dehumanized shell

I saw a man this evening, obviously a bottomed-out addict, his head scarred from beatings and sutures, sores on his face and back from disease, his frame wasting, the skin of his face and neck dark from flagging health, barely cognizant of his place in line, receiving his insulin and pills, and my heart broke for the shell of humanity that I saw. My initial disdain at his willful wretchedness and the bother of his presence melted into heartache for the sadness of his condition and the dehumanizing acts which he most certainly performed to maintain his chemical fugue state. I hung my head in sorrow and I wondered if a tear might fall. That’s probably how Jesus dug so deeply within himself to invest in such profound prayer and fasting so as to acquire the heart of God and the curative, restorative power that flowed therefrom.

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Seeing Big, Understanding Small

Some people see big but understand small because they are viewing what is close. Instead, we should see small and understand big as Elijah taught his servant: “And at the seventh time he said, ‘Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea.’ And he said, ‘Go up, say to Ahab, “Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you”.’ And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain.” 2Kings 18:43-45

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God Is Deep, Not Complex

Service to Almighty God is not complicated, but there is so much more depth to God than Christians understand (or even want to understand). God is not just a happiness giver. For many, Christianity means a successful marriage, a happy family, adequate economics, protection from death. For many Catholics, Christianity (rightly) means accepting the bad with the good. This is all shallow Christianity. God is so, so much deeper, deeper but not complicated. God does not require ceremony and tradition (Psalm 51:17 “a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise”). God is all that we believe to be the nature and character of God. But God is deeper than what we shallowly understand. God is an existence where our own existence becomes insignificant. Walking with God is a state where nothing else even enters our thoughts, a state where we wish we could vaporize and meld with no thought for what is behind because every possible desire is satisfied in God Most High.

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Itching Ears

2 Timothy 4:3 NLT “For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.”

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Recliner Worship

I find myself intolerably annoyed with anthems about experiencing God’s presence. How did mankind become so comfortable kicking back to imagine that God has a duty to satisfy the thirst or hunger or desperation of servants? It is a lazy and wrong-headed understanding of what it means to be an Abrahamic theist. Singung about the awesomeness of God’s presence might produce a goosenump, but it does not produce an encounter with the Almighty.Show more ›

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A Spontaneous Meditation

“Come unto me, all ye labouring and burdened ones, and I will give you rest, take up my yoke upon you, and learn from me, because I am meek and humble in heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls.” (Matt 11:28-29 YLT)

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it and is safe.” (Prov 18:10 YLT)

“Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is [my portion] forever.” (Psalm 73:25-26 NLT)

“But as for me, how good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do.” (Psalm 73:28)

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Envisioning Nontraditional Men’s Clothing with AI

AI Image of man wearing knee length sleeveless Oxford shirt dress with elasticized waist.The difficulty in demonstrating non-existent clothing is the fact that such clothing does not exist. And whether man or woman, very few consumers have the capacity to draw what they imagine or to sew what they draw. If it can’t be represented, how will a tailor or seamstress be able to create a custom order? Maybe AI can empower the strident consumer to refine his wishes with detail that he can’t quite articulate. This image is the product of “Man wearing knee length sleeveless Oxford shirt dress with elasticized waist.” (Credit to Deep AI). Perhaps its simplicity will provoke more complex endeavors. The crazy thing is that AI does not often generate any two identical images from the same text prompt. So if an image isn’t close, just refresh. If an image is close, don’t navigate away or take a break or the AI will abandon its flow. Keep tweaking the text prompt.

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Yahweh, Jehovah, & Adonai

I learned a little Arabic in 2022. The classes ended abruptly so I did not progress as far as I had expected. My graduate studies included two linguistics courses that, for inteinsic reasons, were predominantly Indo-European (duh, I speak English, Spanish, French). Of course any linguistics curriculum includes an overview of other language families, and that once-extraneous knowledge of Semitic languages quickly made a lot of sense. It probably also accelerated my uptake. It definitely connected dots which I could apply to Hebrew.Show more ›

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Mikayla Daniels: “Why I Believe Men Should Wear Skirts”

Mikayla Daniels receiving award at 2023 MQFFMikayla Daniels reminisces on her (high school) forensics speech titled, “Why I Believe Men Should Wear Skirts.” Her argument consists of four point: 1) Clothing has no inherent gender; 2) History of human civilization; 3) Aesthetics; 4) Comfort and practicality.  She concludes, “Let’s just throw away all the nonsense and let people wear what they feel good in, no matter the article of clothing or their gender, because clothes are just clothes.” Read her full piece at https://mikayladaniels.medium.com

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Surrendered Suffering Is Worship

Luke 22:42 records Jesus as praying, “Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from me; nevertheless not my will, but Thine be done.” These words demonstrate total surrender to יהוה. It is the sheep submitting to the shepherd’s plans and purposes. Suffering is not just the adversity which befalls us. Suffering is just as much knowing the adversity that will imminently befall us or the consciousness that our present adversity has no apparent set ending. Feeling about to break, we ourselves are likely to beg the Almighty to bring our suffering to an end. There is nothing fallable in that entreaty. But, if we then bring ourselves to say, “not my will but yours be done” then in that moment we offer a worship of submission. And every moment of mindful submission is worship. In worship there is peace. The desperation changes to sorrow as we experience God’s sorrow for our suffering. But if all we can offer is our desperate and broken heart, then it is sufficient to offer our desperate and broken heart. The old widow who gave her last two coins (Mk 12:41-44) offered God all that she had and it was an acceptable offering. It was her worship. When we surrender our last desperate emotions, it is our worship and it is acceptable, it is pleasing. Our agony, when offered as submission, becomes a lived act of worship. Stop bucking to start worshipping.

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Of Course God Exists

“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’.” —Psalm 14:1

“Thus said Jehovah, king of Israel, And his Redeemer, Jehovah of Hosts: `I [am] the first, and I the last, And besides Me there is no God’.” —Isaiah 44:6 YLT

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Trump Truth

I saved this Trumplethinskin meme years ago because it was so perspicacious. I had no idea it would become relevant again.

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Incomprehensible

To some it would seems unimaginable that God could communicate individually with all 8 billion Earth humans. If that were humanly comprehensible, then God wouldn’t be God.

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Of course demons exist

To be “Christian” is to be a “little Christ” or a “Christ follower.” Jesus rebuked demons, terrorized demons, and exorcized demons. What is there not to understand?

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Method to download Facebook video

Like most things on the internet, Facebook videos might be here today and gone tomorrow. For purposes of a forthcoming post, I needed to download an overly long FB live video and edit it down to the key minutes. It was a definite challenge, but ultimately these instructions worked (after a few on-the-fly workarounds to overcome FB’s interim changes). It might just be useful to others out there, particularly civil libertarians who wish to archive unconscionable internet blatherskite.

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A “play on masculinity and femininity”

To quote and to paraphrase Vogue magazine, Billy Porter “defied fashion norms” at the 2019 Academy Awards by stepping onto the red carpet in an “unapologetically fabulous[, . . .] sharply tailored tuxedo jacket overtop a full-skirted velvet gown”—”a play on masculinity and femininity [that] challenged the rigid Hollywood dress code and was boundary-pushing in all the right ways.” Show more ›

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A Short Colloquy

VOX: I’m really tired of [this locality and these circumstances]
GOD: Am I not enough for you?
VOX: I withdraw my complaint

(In other words, Do I not satisfy you? What else do you need?)

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Fixing the Complaint Instead of Fixing the Problem

“The eternal temptation, of course, has been to arrest the speaker rather than to correct the conditions about which he complains. I see no reason why these appellees should be made to walk the treacherous ground of these statutes. They, like other citizens, need the umbrella of the First Amendment as they study, analyze, discuss, and debate the troubles of these days. When criminal prosecutions can be leveled against them because they express unpopular views, the society of the dialogue is in danger.” Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 65 (1971) Still true today, fifty-three years later!

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He saw it as practical

Photo of journalist Adam GrahamWhile visiting Saudi Arabia, Adam Graham offhandedly confessed his admiration for the Arabian thobe. Adam’s friend immediately took him shopping. “To be honest,” Adam writes, “it never dawned on me that I could buy a thobe. […] I was so pleased with it that I decided to wear it for the rest of the day while touring the city.”  Show more ›

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On Disputation

The person who cannot refute a disagreeable position holds an indefensible position, lacks pathos, or lacks acumen. —‍Vox

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What does “women’s clothing” mean?

What does it mean to label garments as “women’s clothing”? One might (myopically) say that it means clothing uniquely suited to women. But does it really mean that? Women do not have extra arms or other anatomies that require special design. After accounting for sizing, every garment works on every human.Show more ›

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Environmental Nonsense

A YouTuber so arguably wrong….due to (relative) youth and short-term myopia (at the expense of long-term memory). The 10% corn ethanol had nothing to do with sustainability, global warming, or “climate change.” Going back 30+ years, it was a seasonal additive to slightly reduce big-city air pollution in the hottest months. At least that was the claim. Show more ›

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NASA’s “Pluto Time”

Actually, the sunlight on Pluto reaches 3x the illumination of full moon on Earth. So that means other bodies like Jupiter’s moons are even more illuminated. Not at all what I expected. Could that be enough for genetically engineered photosynthesis? But wait, click now to calculate an equivalent ambient illumination experience at your Earth coordinates! Cool. NASA Pluto Time Calculator

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I Wore a Thobe Today

Nearly eight years ago I posted my first manifesto, Why I Wear Skirts. Skirts are still super awesome, but today I forge another counter­cultural path: the Arabian Thobe. Yet for all the wisdom and perspective gained through skirts, I find myself re-learning some of the same simple lessons all over again.Show more ›

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Demanding a god that thinks like a human

How often do we hear the critique, I cannot believe in a god that allows so much suffering to exist in the world. This statement actually expresses the thought that I can only believe in a god that thinks the way that I think (i.e. because I would end suffering if I were God). Show more ›

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NY Trump Trial

The arguments, evidence, and testimony are now over and the jury is off to deliberate. On the whole, there is nothing unlawful in purchasing silence of noncrimes (NDAs, for example) and it appears certain that Trumple­­thin­skin knowingly intended to hide the purchase price. I think Trump imagined himself a shrewd accountant burying the smoldering embers as attorney fees, the substance of which (rendered legal services) was conceivable privileged. The thing is that in New York, such constitutes a form of money laundering. Overly simplified, money laundering is the process of using legitimate business records to conceal dirty money. New York extends that principle to any type of business record. Trump ran private business(es) in New York for decades and knew, should have known, or imputably did know the state laws on business records (and gor this purpose, all election campaigns are special non-commercial corporations with tax returns and full employees). The testimony forcefully showed that Trump directed the false recordation of the legal payment for public relations purposes. That appears sufficient to prove the state law offense as a misdemeanor. As to the felony enhancement, it needs to be shown that Trump knew that his self-imagined shrewdness violated federal canpaign law. That is the lynchpin. I expect that Trump will minimally be convicted of the misdemeanor but I haven’t followed the trial closely enough to know if scienter (knowingness) is a required element of the alleged federal campaign law violaton (or if scienter is a required element of federal campaign law).

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A Short Colloquy (#2)

VOX: I’m really tired of being here.
GOD: If you’re here then you’re not there.

(In other words, You can’t know the dangers lurking elsewhere so I’m holding you ‘here’ which is better for you than ‘there’.)

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Fear Should Not Inform

All emotional decisions are bad decisions. Fear is an emotion. Therefore, fear should not inform our decisions. Decisions are rational assessments of circumstances and outcomes. Reactions are the polar opposite. Decision is a response through which the actor asserts self-directed agency. Reaction is a response through which the actor abdicates agency. Sometimes fear will conceal itself in wisdom as when one chooses a “least bad outcome.” But how often is that ‘decision’ just the fear of the harder struggle?

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Spanish Company Only Sells Men’s Skirts


Dave’s only sells skirts for men—fourteen of them, actually. It’s a great effort, but I don’t see it being successful. In a word: try-hard. Exaggerated cuts to distinguish from womenswear, but the truth is that the confident wearer doesn’t give any shits or fucks about the thoughts of ignorant observers. The liberated wearer casts off the bondage of external opinion.

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What we pray

Most of what we pray is me-me-me, want-want-want, my terms, my timing, my pleasure, my solution. We approach God with the mentality of an immature child. —‍Vox

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Preferential parking for public servants???

In 2021 I posted a Louisiana attorney’s video about traffic stops, consent to search, and reasonable duration. I had stumbled onto that video, but for many years there is such a mountain of video revealing the extremes of police self-entitlment (as one former federal prosecutor and a Texas lawyer continually discuss). Not too long ago I observed this parking sign at a national retailer.
Isn’t this symptomatic of the problem? Police are supposed to be public servants, not special citizens. They already invent parking for their vehicles wherever suits them. Erecting signage for preferential parking validates the sense of entitlement. So I parked in that space because a public servant should be happy to defer to the public!

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Listen Carefully

I am intellectually disconcerted by statements attributing Donald Trump’s survival to God’s protection. Is God’s power limited (Num 11:23)? Is God’s arm too short (Is 59:1)? Can God prevent death but not a wound? Daniel did not emerge from the lion’s den with scratches and God rescued from the firey furnace “men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them” (Dan 3:27). Show more ›

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Jesus’s Miracles

The miracles which Jesus performed closely track the miracles performed by Old  Testament prophets. Perhaps Jesus’s best-known miracle is his walking on the surface of the Sea of Galilee (Matt 14:25-34; Mark 6:48-53; John 6:19-21). While no other prophet traversed a water obstacle in this precise manner, four prophets reached the other side by moving the water. Moses parted the Red Sea to walk on the seabed (Exodus 14:21-22); Joshua parted the Jordan to cross on the riverbed (Joshua 3:13-17), as did Elijah (2 Kings 3:8), as did Elisha (2 Kings 3:14). Show more ›

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(Nontrinitarian) Christian Advantage

It might be, that as a (nontrinitarian) Christian, I enjoy the capacity to honor, respect, and revere—without snobby superiority—both my Jewish and my Muslim brethren who, like Christians, worship the God of Abraham.

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God is not…

God is not what we think God is, neither is God what we imagine God to be. We are blind (wo)men trying to describe colors. Everything that we articulate is conscripted by our limited vocabulary. We who are finite cannot actually understand what it is to be infinite. Our weak articulations describe the infinite as being everything that the finite is not. But we cannot actually predict the infinite. Every word that we use to describe God Most High has zero useful meaning. God is not what we think God is because we cannot think beyond the capabilities of our thought. God is more than we can imagine. Perhaos we are but one percent accurate in our understanding of God, incapable of comprehending the remaining ninety-nine percent.

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Adam, Eve, and the Creation of Everything

Five years ago I observed that Scripture arguably describes a simultaneous creation of Adam and Eve. Read literally, woman was extracted from man. Extraction means the woman was already within the man at creation. Did God sort a comingled bag of jellybeans into pinks and blues, or did God change one-half of only-blue jellybeans into pink jellybeans? If the former, then Adam and Even co-existed ab initio.Show more ›

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SnappyDragon: History is full of men in skirts and dresses

“Menswear worldwide and all through men’s fashion history was full of men in skirts, from medieval tunics to kilts, dhoti, kimono, and more. Men’s skirts today are gender nonconforming clothing, but fashion history is full of skirts and dresses that were definitely mens fashion! It’s often said that the ancient Romans considered trousers barbaric, Show more ›

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Alan Miller Execution

Alabama is set to extinguish a second life by suffocation. Clinically it is nitrogen asphyxiation. It is supposed to be done by slowly replacing oxygen with nitrogen. Our terrestrial atmosphere is roughly 78% nitrogen (N2) and 21% oxygen (O2). These diatomic gases coexist without binding to anything. Slowly decreasing the oxygen induces a buzz. It should be like huffing paint or receiving laughing gas (nitrous oxide) except that oxygen drops so low that unconsciousness ensues followed by brain death and cardiac death.

Earlier this year, Alabama strapped a mask on Kenneth Smith and hit him with straight 100% nitrogen. He struggled and writhed as if drowning or being smothered with a pillow. Any straight gas causes the same sensation. Try breathing into a paper bag—it quickly becomes all nitrogen (N2) and carbon dioxide (CO2).Show more ›

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Revealing God

God has spent all of human history revealing more and more of himself to humanity. It is time to recognize those cycles and endeavors for what they were and for what we were. The metaphors and symbolisms were appropriate for the stage of human civilization and human cognition. But we are in a different stage today and it is time to recognize the past revelations for what they were and it is time to look beyond those metaphors and conceive of something new today.Show more ›

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On Easily Impressed Minds

Ignorant people are easily impressed. People who are easily impresed are only impressed by people who are only slightly more informed. People who are easily impressed by marginal knowledge will never recognize expertise because they cannot grasp the gulf between their knowledge and absolute knowledge. Very similar to the Dunning-Kruger Effect.

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Skirt Clarity

As I set out to re-tweak some SEO metatext, a succinct statement of cause hit me: Although “skirt” is a garment marketed to women, the concept and structural design need not be exclusive to women. I think that is what every man (and ally) has tried to articulate. A while back, I was hit by an unsettlingly realization that I had unwittingly perpetuated the societal gendered construct by speaking of garments as skirts for men rather than skirts for all. To say “skirts for men” implies that skirts have an inherent gender appropriateness that needed broadening. I was undercutting my own position that skirts were acceptable for all.Show more ›

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Learning Seasons

No human is capable of learning every lesson in all seasons. Multiplication is not learned before addition, and neither is taught before due time or to the unripe mind. There are seasons for life growth, each with predicate lessons and each lesson according to developmental acumen. He who asks why it took so long to unlock a mystery must recognize that it was not for stubborness and willfulness, but for maturation of his consciousness. —‍Vox

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Not Not Muslim

Muslim originally meant (and still means) “one who submits to God.” That sounds like a pretty awesome designation. I desire to be wholly submitted to God. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

Muslim later acquired its second meaning of “one who practices Islam.” As I pointed out previously, Islam means “peace through submission to God.” I desire that peace.

So I am Muslim, but not Muslim, or maybe just not not Muslim.

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Wilfully Lost

You’re a self-righteous sell-out who pawned his moral compass to open a door and grew too comfortably cowardly to retrieve it. —‍Vox

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Zerubbabel’s Deliverance

Zechariah 4:6 records God’s message to Zerubbabel that success would come “‘not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.” Out of the blue a modern rephrasing dropped into my consciousness: not by struggle nor by strength, but by God’s deliverance.Show more ›

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Comfortable with uncertainties and unanswerables

When I was younger (as in my teens and twenties) I had an abiding need (perhaps compulsion) to argue the veracity of scripture, to reduce all mystery to sensible candor. In my thirties, my great uncle (a Duke Divinity M.Th. and M.Div.) told me that when the answer to every question is faith, the explanations become irrelevant. Now in my forties, the more mature that my faith has become, the more comfortable I am with uncertainties and unanswerables. My faith is now rooted in the fact that God is so far superior to me that my mortal mind could never satisfactorily explain God. Scripture endeavors to communicate the nature of an infinite God through inadequate words. And so I find myself happier with an understanding that every articulable thought is completely and utterly irrelevant. In fact, the more abstract the thought, the more comforting I find it. Everything understandable must be wrong so only in recognizing that I am wrong can I know that I am correct.

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Perfectly created to be imperfect

God’s creation reflects artistic creativity. God did not just create birds, but birds of many colors and sizes and songs. But is any one bird better than than another? Why create such variety unless to express artistry. We assume that since God created humans last in an iterative series, that humans must be the apex of creation. Arrogance and nonesense. God designed humans the way that God desired. Why did God give humans two legs and two arms? Why not design humans with four arms or with suction fingers or with two front eyes and two rear eyes? The human shoulder is a very complex and complicated joint. It is masterfully engineered, yet susceptible to so many dysfunctions. Evolutionists will argue that no deity would engineer such a fragile joint. I will reply that evolution should have bred out a fragile joint. God created humans according to God’s creative pleasure. God was an artist before a blank canvas and created what he pleased in the manner that he pleased. For God to create humans with inferiority, and for God to create humans with imperfections does not mean that God’s design is flawed. We exist according to God’s design, not according to our opinion of improvement. Just as we need not be immortal to be created by an immortal God, neither need we to be perfect to be created by a perfect God. In his cubist period, Pablo Picasso painted some pretty zany portraits to deconstruct and contrast the human form. God designed us the way God wished. That does not make us perfect. It makes us what God designed.

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Sun Tzu: Victory is only by opportunity

The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy. To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself. Thus the good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat, but cannot make certain of defeating the enemy. Hence the saying: One may know how to conquer without being able to do it. —‍孫‍子 (Sun Tzu), The Art of War

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Zoomorphism and Anthropomorphism

My mother acquired two kittens last October. She has been petless for eighteen years. I myself have not had a pet in twenty years. Her kittens sparked memories of my cute childhood contemplations of metaphysics. I think nearly every child has thought: our pets must see us as gods. I know I said as much on more than one occasion. Now some decades later, I realize that there is a profoundly deeper truth to be examined, and its discovery begins with an improved articulation: these adorable inferior animals of such limited cognition must think us humans to be gods due to our superior abilities that pets can never attain. This more precise and expanded articulation serves a needful purpose in showing our dysfunctional definitions and descriptions of God.Show more ›

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Skirt Blogs

For a time, Travis Martin (2015) and myself (2016) were the only two ‘males’ to blog their skirt awakening. Other than skirt cafe, there was no guidance for newly or would-be enlightened men. That vacuum led me to author some deep-dive posts and to curate media and internet coverage on the subject.

Although the highest read posts on my blog discuss skirts, my blog isn’t exclusively about socioculturally defiant clothing. So it seems appropriate to recognize two sites entirely dedicated to the subject: The Beskirted Man and Every­body Skirts. I have no plans to cease writing, but these cats are actively writing and those who subscribe my blog should probably subscribe theirs as well.

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On lost causes

You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves. —‍Winston Churchill

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Fake doctorates (feat. Christopher Hylton)

Christopher Hylton claims to have a “Doctorate of Theology [from] Piedmont Bible College of Theology,” but Piedmont does not confer theology doctorates (Th.D.). Piedmont also does not confer divinity doctorates (D.Div.). Piedmont narrowly offers a “Doctor of Ministry” in “biblical preaching, church revitalization, and ministry.” It is a non-academic, thirty-six credit online program “designed for those who aspire to excel at the highest level in the practice of ministry.” No dissertation is required for Piedmont’s D.Min. Whether a “Piedmont Bible College of Theology” ever existed is doubtful. There was once a Piedmont Bible College that merged with other schools. It now exists as Piedmont Divinity School within Carolina University (a college with a flimsy accreditation claim and a troubling percentage of adjunct faculty). All this reminds me of another blogger’s post on televangelists buying fake doctorates. This shit bothers me.Show more ›

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Trump, Constitution, and Oaths

NBC’s Kristen Welker asked Trump, “don’t you need to uphold the Constitution of the United States as president?” Trump answered, “I don’t know.” What!? At both inaugurations Trump swore an oath to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” So legal duty aside, Trump swore an oath to uphold the Constitution. But yes, the U.S. Constitution, Art II §1, requires this oath, and thus the duty:

“Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:– I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

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Waiting on God

Nearly twenty years ago, John Waller recorded “While I’m Waiting” which heralds patience. Among other verses, Isaiah 40:31 advises that “they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” In similar form, Psalm 40:1-3 testifies of patience and surrender: “I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.” Jesus said these same things, and I am reminded again of last year’s posts, Surrendered Suffering Is Worship and Inshallah, Mashallah, and Alhamdulillah.

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A 25-min First Amendment Primer

I do not watch “auditor” videos—in part because I already understand First-Amendment contours and in part because most such auditors are just uninspired copycats—but the person who brought this video to my attention was correct: it’s worth watching. It covers so much ground and I give this man props for his precision, even surgical, tact. He mentions Cohen v. California and indirectly hints at City of Houston v. Hill. Texas is in the fifth circuit so Cruise-Gulyas v. Minard does not preemptively control, but the decision absolutely would be adopted had this intaction resulted in a civil action.

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Women make sensible urologists

I had reason to see a urologist when I was around 20. Back then all urologists were male in the sprawling MSA of just under 1 million. So I was evaluated by a man. But in all candor, I had not really given the option any thought. Nothing had changed by the time I was 29 and by then I definitely would have considered it. By the time I was 38 the specialty had matured and I had the option. I chose a woman. Show more ›

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Optics are secondary

“Who cares about the cussing? Who cares about the optics? I care about the Constitution. I care about the fact that no one bothered to point out the real problem here. […] Even if it wasn’t an autistic kid, if it was an unsympathetic criminal, it is just as serious.” —‍John Bryan, Esq.

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The Power of One

iTunes selected this song for playback this evening. It’s an inspiring one for sure. (not sure that this is an official video)

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Liberate women, liberate men

At first it will be difficult to perceive the connection between men in skirts and women without brassieres, but her analysis is relevant. She mentions comfort, yes, but most resonant is her statement on anatomy-positivity (something that I myself had to sort out early on). She alludes to the culture forces that pressure women to wear a bra, and that makes women feel transgressive for defying the normative expectations. But she concludes her manifesto with these words: “Try it, and you may feel uncomfortable, and that’s ok. I think, sit with the discomfort and know that a lot of it is just in your mind and I think just keep trying it.” Every bit of that is true of men wearing skirts.

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Appeasement Fallacy

Appeasers believe that if you keep on throwing steaks to a tiger, the tiger will turn vegetarian. —‍Heywood Broun